Through three quarters of play in last night's ninth Shrine Chowder Bowl Classic, the excitement was limited in a game dominated by the Central defense.

Jared Keene/Daily News correspondent

Through three quarters of play in last night's ninth Shrine Chowder Bowl Classic, the excitement was limited in a game dominated by the Central defense.

The Central offense had been integrating a strong mix of run and pass plays with a couple of reverses mixed in. With eight and a half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and Central up by a touchdown, it looked as if Central was going to run another reverse, until Marlborough quarterback Graham Asum, playing wide receiver, stopped, set his feet, and looked downfield.

The result? A beautifully thrown 43-yard touchdown pass to St. Johns's James Lizotte (two touchdowns, Central Offensive MVP), which put the icing on the cake in Central's 14-0 win at Springfield College's Amos Alonzo Stagg Field.

"It was definitely designed," said the Worcester State-bound Asum. "(The offensive coordinator) knew I was a quarterback for Marlborough so we wanted to run that. Coach had been drawing that up for awhile and I was waiting for that to come. Once he said it, I was just like 'let's go' and I aired it out to Jimmy, who hauled it in, so I gotta give him credit for that."

All in all, Asum, who said he will play either quarterback or defensive back at Worcester State, had three catches for 18 yards, one carry for seven yards, and the touchdown pass. Asum also returned a kick and two punts, but didn't get much of a chance to show his breakaway speed, as his blocking let him down.

Milford's Alex Avery and Algonquin's Mike Vulcano also saw significant playing time at wide receiver for the Central. Avery made two catches for 23 yards and Vulcano, like Asum a natural quarterback, didn't catch a pass, but did contribute some solid downfield blocking.

"It's great playing with all these guys," said Vulcano. "Everybody's so good. It's awesome, we were wingin' the ball around. We had five guys who can all catch the ball and me and Graham are usually quarterbacks. It's fun just mixing it up, staying on one side of the ball, and just going out and having fun."

Vulcano was also quick to touch on the importance of the cause. The proceeds from last night's game go to Shriners Hospital in Springfield.

"It means a lot," he said. "Going to the banquet and going through the hospital to see what they do at Shriners. It's really an amazing program and any money that we can raise is well worth it."

On the defensive side of the ball, Maynard's Seth Parmeter, Hudson's Cam Ciesluk, Westborough's Dave Orlando, and Uxbridge's Shawn Sokoloski all saw significant playing time.

Parmeter, who played nose tackle, made two tackles, one for a loss and the other for no gain. Orlando and Sokoloski also made two tackles apiece and Ciesluk made one tackle while also getting some strong pressure on the West's quarterbacks.

"We had a real good two weeks and that's what it's really all about," said Assabet Valley coach Rob McCann, who was the Central's head defensive coach. "It's about the preparation, the coaches, the assistant coaches, and the kids kind of coming together for two weeks, which isn't really easy because everybody has different systems. The kids dialed into our system and believed in what we were doing. It shows up on the playing field when the other team has a goose egg at the end."

Also playing well for the Central team were Assabet's Alex Moore, Nipmuc's Chris Sullivan, Milford's Kyle Ricciuti, Westborough's Zach Lane, and Marian's Tom Flynn.

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